LadyStanley
Registered User
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/why-the-nhl-is-becoming-like-the-nfl/article1895768/
Yes, the expanded coaching staff and scouting adds to the bottom line. But organizations wouldn't invest the $$ if they didn't think it would provide a difference in the on ice product.
In a multitude of ways, the National Hockey League is becoming more like the National Football League. More reliant on coaching. More prone to systems. More dependent on video – lots and lots of video, before games, during games, on off days and travel days.
It’s not a drastic makeover, it’s more a subtle shift. Look at how NHL teams have expanded their number of assistant coaches over the years, even at the minor-league level. There are positional coaches, specialty coaches, strength and conditioning coaches. There are coaches scouting opponents and game-day coaches watching from the press box in communication with coaches on the players’ bench.
Teams watch video of their play between periods, to chart their tendencies and their rival’s. They look at the game-sheet statistics to see who’s winning the faceoff battle, where the shots are coming from and who’s taking them. It has to do with playing percentages and collecting as much information as possible, which is what the NFL-ization of hockey is about.
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There are other NFL-NHL comparisons: how much work teams put into scouting; how the two leagues like to see their potential draft picks perform against each other at the Prospects Game/Senior Bowl, and how hockey teams now stage rookie camps to assess and indoctrinate their young talent.
It’s a byproduct of what the NFL and NHL have both developed: parity, and the need to find an advantage.
Yes, the expanded coaching staff and scouting adds to the bottom line. But organizations wouldn't invest the $$ if they didn't think it would provide a difference in the on ice product.
